Drilling apparatus



March 13, 1928. 1,662,801

I H. H. MERCER DR ILLING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1927 raven/2W7": fkiWgli Nerve r.

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Patented Mar. 13, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT'OFFICE.

HENRY H. MERGER, F CLAREMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSiGNOR TO SULLIVANMACHINERY COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

DRILLING ArPAnArus.

Application filed July 26, 1927. Serial No. 208,599.

My invention relatesto drilling apparatus and ynirticularly to acombined drill steel actuating and cleansing fluid pumping means. 1

It has for an objectto provide improved drilling apparatus particularlyadapted for drilling large holes of relatively great depth. Anotherobject is to provide improved steel reciprocating andcleansing fluidpumping means for the type of drilling apparatus disclosed in mycopending application Ser. No i l-2,337, filed October 8, 1924-, toallow the same to handle greater lengths of drillrods and to drilldeepe'r holes. A further object is to produce a more effective pumpingaction whereby cleansing fluid at. a higher pressure is available forcleansing the hole. Other objects and advantages will, however,hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown for purposes of illustrationone form which my invention may assume in practice.

in these drawings,--

Fig. l is an elevation view of a portion of a drilling apparatus with myimproved steel reciprocating and cleansing fluid pumping meansassociated therewith, parts being broken away to facilitateillustration.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through my improved steelreciprocating and fluid pumping device on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In this illustrative embodiment of my invention I have shown a part ofthe frame of the drilling machine designated as 1 upon which verticalsupporting and guiding standards 2 are secured in the manner describedin my copending application above identified. The drill steel actuating1nechanism is carried in a frame including upper and lower head members3 and 4 slidahly mounted upon the vertical supporting standards 2 bymeans of bearing and guiding portions 5 in the head members. These upperand lower head members are secured together by means of vertical rodsSand suitable retaining means such as nuts 7;

For the purpose of actuating the drill steel a crank shaft 8 ismountedinthe upper head member 3 and driven from a suitable source ofpower by mechanism fully describedin my above identified application;

lower end to the chuck member 11.

ends by upper and lower cylinder heads 18 and 19, respectively, and bymeans of an intermediate head 20 common to the upper and lower sets ofcylinders. A supplemental upper head 21 is mounted ad acent the head 19for the purpose of providing a compressed fluid receiving chamber 22.All of these head members and cylinders are secured together by aplurality of longitudinal bolts 23, which extend through the headmembers between the outer and inner cylinder members. A piston 24reciprocatcs within the lower cylinder 14 and a second piston 25reciprocates within the upper cylinder 17, both of these pistons beingsecured to a common piston rod 26 secured at its Stub shafts 27 projectoutwardly from the intermediate head at diametrically opposite pointsand to these shafts are connected the rod bearings 28. Also formedintegral with each of these stub shaftsare guiding memhers 29, shown inFig. 1. Each of these guide members is provided with a semicylindricalrecess 30 adapted to be slidably gLHClQd upon guiding sleeves 31surrounding each. of the retaining rods 6, and loosely mounted thereonso that they may be rotated relative to the shaft 6 at frequentintervals to prevent excessive wear upon only one side.

. Inlet ports 32 in the lowercylinder head member controlled by valves33 serve to admit air to the lower end of the lower-cylinder. The inletmeans for the upper end of this cylinder comprise passages 34 leadinginto a hollow portion of the intermediate head 20 through the stubshafts 27, inlet ports 35 and valves 36. The hollow chamber 37 in theintermediatehcad serves as a storage chamber and tends to equalize theflow of air through the passages 84. Air discharged from the lowercylinder through discharge ports 38 controlled by valves 39 and isconducted by way of the annular space between. the cylinders 13 and ill?cylinder elements.

lt through passages 40 in the intermediate cylinder head into theannular space hetweenthe upper cylinders 15 and 16,v by way of passages41 controlled by valves 42, to the lower end of the upper or highpressure cylinder 17, and into the upper end of this same cylinderthrough passages d3 controlled by valves 44. Air is discharged from theupper and lower ends of the high pres sure cylinder through ports 45controlled by valves 45 into the annular space between the cyliiiders 16and 17 through the passages 46 into the receiver chamber 22.

Suitable means are provided for regulating the discharge of air from thechamber 22 which comprises an outer sleeve member 47 provided with slots48 threaded into the head member 21, and an inner sleeve 19providedwithoslots 50 which are adapted to register with the slots e8,this inner sleeve member being secured to a cap51 by means of a studbolt 52. The cap member 51 is threaded on the end of the outer sleevemember and may be clamped thereto by means of a clamping device 53. Itwill be noted thatupon loosening the clamping dcvice 53 and stud bolt 52the sleeves may be adjusted relative to one another to control theextent of the opening between the receiver chamber 22jand the interiorof the inner sleeve.

It will be observed that the piston rod 26 is hollow throughout itsentire length and terminates at its upper end within the interior of theinner sleeve 19. A casing 54L is secured to the upper and lower headmembers 3 and 4, respectively, which encloses the entire mechanism andprevents the entrance of abrasive material. 7

In operation, the connecting rods 9 will be positively reciprocated bythe crank shaft 8,-this motion being transmitted directly to theintermediate head 20 and all of the The pistons and piston rod, beingfree to move relativeto the cylinder meinbers,will tend to move in adownward direction when the cylinder is being lifted and thus the upwardmovement of the drill chuck will be somewhat later than the movement ofthe connecting rods. Also when the downward movement of the drill chuckis resisted by an outside force as when the, drill bit delivers a blow,the cylinder elements will move downward relative to the pistons andpiston rod. This action will continuously pump air through the ports 32and 35 into the lower cylinder where it will be compressed a certainamount, the same being discharged into the upper cylinder throughpassages 41 and 43 where it will be compressed to a considerably higherpres sure, and discharged into the receiver chamber 22." Thiscompressing action will apply a yielding resistance to the relativemovement between the cylinder and piston elements and it will beobserved that the discharge ports are spaced at a distance "from theends of the cylinders so that when the piston overruns these ports acertain amount of air will be trapped to serve as a pneumatic cushion,thus insuring against the possibility of the piston striking against thecylinder heads. This pneumatic connection between the positively drivenelement and the drill bit is very essential in order to produce aneffective blow. it the same time increased, thereby eiiecting acorrespomling increase in the pneumatic resistance to rcla tive movementof the cylinder and piston elements, which will enable the machine tosuccessfully operate with a greater length oi drillv rods and at thesame time provide the desired flexibility between the positive driveelement and drill chuck. Also by reason of this compound actioncleansing fluid is available at considerably higher pressures so thatthe cuttings from a deep hole may he more effectively removed.

lVhile I have in this application specifically described one form whichmy invention may assume in practice, it will be undcrstood that thisform of: the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that theinvention may be modified and embodied in various other forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a poi'ver reciprocated member, adrill steel actuated thereby, means [for providing a pneumaticconnection between said member and said steel comprising a plurality ofcylinders and pistons cooperating therewith, and fluid conducting andvalve means associated with said cylinders and pistons whereby they actas a, compound fluid compressor pump.

2. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill stccl actuated thereby, means for providing av pneumaticconnection between said member and said steel comprising a plurality ofcylinders and pistons cooperating therewith. fluid conducting and valvemeans associated with said cylinders and pistons whereby they act as acompound fluid compressor pump, and means for conducting fluiddischarged from said pump to a bore in the drill steel.

8. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill steel actuated thereby, means for providing a pneumatic connectionbetween said memher and said steel comprising a plurality of cylindersand pistons cooperating therewith, fluid conducting and valve meansassociated with said cylinders and pistons whereby they act as acompound fluid compressor pump, and means for controlling the dischargepressure of said pump.

4:. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill steel actuated thereby, means for providing a pneumatic connectionbetween said member and said steel comprising a plurality of cylindersand pistons cooperating therewith, and means for conducting tluiddischarge from one cylinder into another cylinder whereby said secondcylinder and piston are sub jected to higher working pressures.

5. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill steel actuated thereby, means for providing a pneumatic connectionbetween said member and said steel comprising a plurality of cylindersand pistons coo} 3erating therewith, means for conducting fluiddischarge from one cylinder into another cylinder whereby.

said second cylinder and piston are subjected to higher workingpressures, and means for conducting pressure fluid from said secondcylinder to a bore in the drill steel for cleansing the hole.

6. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill steel aotuated thereby, means for providing a pneumatic connectionbetween said member and said steel comprising a pluralityof cylindersand pistons cooperating therewith, and fluid conducting and valve meansassociated with said cylinders and pistons whereby they act as acompound fluid compressor pump, each of said pump cylinders being doubleacting.

7. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill steel actuated thereby, and means for providing a pneumaticconnection between said member and said steel comprising a plurality ofcylinder and piston pumping elements connected in tandem compoundrelation.

8. A rock drilling apparatus comprising a power reciprocated member, adrill. steel actuated thereby, means for providing a pneumaticconnection between said member and said steel comprising a plurality ofcylinders mounted in tandem and movable with said member, pistonscooperating with said cylinders and movable with the drill steel, andfluid pressure means acting on said pistons, the pressure acting on onepiston being higher than the pressure acting on another.

9. In a drilling apparatus, combined steel reciprocating and cleansingfluid pumping means comprising a positively reciprocated member, a drillsteel actuated thereby, and means for providing a yielding connectionbetween said member and said steel comprising a plurality of cylindersand pistons cooperating therewith. said cylinders and pistonsconstituting double acting pumping elements on relative movement of saidmem her and said steel, the air supplied to one of said cylinders beinghigher than atmospheric pressure.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

HENRY H. MERCER.

